The present invention relates to a metal gasket which is formed by laminating metal plates and held between two members for sealing. More specifically, the invention relates a metal gasket which can prevent erroneous assembly.
For an automobile engine, metal gaskets such as a gasket sealing a simple sealing-target hole at an intake manifold or exhaust manifold and so on; or a cylinder head gasket sealing between a cylinder head and a cylinder block, are used. The above-mentioned metal gaskets are manufactured by laminating multiple metal plates with different materials, thicknesses, or processes, and in order to obtain a desired sealing capability, these multiple metal plates are required to be laminated in a correct direction on a correct side in a correct order.
However, in many cases, the shapes of the metal plates have roughly the same configuration, so that it is difficult to determine the directions, front or back sides, or the assembling sequence of the lamination of the metal plates. In such a case, when the metal plates are laminated, the direction, front and back sides, and assembling sequence of the lamination may be easily mistaken.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a laminated metal plate gasket with a label such as a notch, engraved mark, marking and the like for recognizing the number of the assembling sequence of each metal plate of the gasket, is proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication (JIKKAI) No. H6-85963), so that the number of the assembling order of each single structural plate of the laminated metal gasket can be clearly recognized.
However, even with the structure which is visually recognizable as mentioned above, man-caused mistakes cannot be completely prevented. Moreover, a device for preventing an erroneous assembly is required.
This invention is made in order to solve the problems described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a metal gasket which is formed by laminating multiple metal plates, and can be easily recognized by an assembler or observer when the direction, front and back sides, or assembling sequence of the lamination of the metal plates are incorrect, and to provide a method of manufacturing the same.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.